Attitudes toward bicycle helmet ownership and use by school-age children.
To identify attitudes toward bicycle helmet ownership and use, questionnaires were sent to parents of 2178 third-graders; 1057 (48.5%) returned valid responses. Of 931 children who had bicycles, 24% owned helmets, but only 56% of children who owned helmets wore them. Helmet ownership, but not use, was associated with higher parental education. Fifty-one percent of 704 parents of bicycle owners who had not purchased helmets said they had never thought of it, 29% thought helmets were too costly, and 20% felt their children would not wear them. Of 792 children who did not wear helmets, 25% said they did not wear them because their friends did not; 22% never thought about wearing helmets; and 16% found them uncomfortable. Efforts to increase the wearing of helmets should address helmet design, awareness, peer pressure, and cost.
DiGuiseppi
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Children's National Medical Center, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC.
Rivara
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Koepsell
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D001294:Attitude to Health; D001642:Bicycling; D002648:Child; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011482:Protective Devices; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014861:Washington